The official token of the BAYC metaverse project, ApeCoin, has been riding high these last few weeks as expectation mounts about the launch of the team’s metaverse project Otherside. The demand for ApeCoin has pushed it into 30th position in the overall crypto rankings with a market cap of $5.3 billion. APE has now overtaken tokens such as Decentraland’s MANA, The Sandbox’s SAND, and Axie Infinity’s AXS.
- At writing, ApeCoin is the 30th cryptocurrency ranked by market capitalization with a value of $5.3 billion at writing
- ApeCoin becomes the highest-ranked metaverse token within one month of launch
- ApeCoin price appreciated 61.4% in the last 14 days
- Otherside NFT drops this Saturday 30 April
- Twitter announcement about Otherside NFTs caused ApeCoin to jump past $18
ApeCoin is owned and operated by the ApeCoin DAO, a decentralized organization where each token holder gets to vote on governance and use of the Ecosystem Fund. Holding ApeCoin is the only requirement for membership in the ApeCoin DAO. The DAO gets support from the Ape Foundation, which acts as the legal steward of ApeCoin and administers the decisions made by the ApeCoin DAO community. The team includes Alexis Ohanian of Reddit and Yat Siu of Animoca Brands.
Market capitalization is an important metric, allowing investors to understand the relative size of one project versus another. Market cap measures what a company is worth on the open market, while also giving an indication of the perception of investors in its future prospects. ApeCoin’s impressive ascent to the top 30 within such a short timeframe shows that while more established projects may have once ruled the crypto jungle, there’s a new alpha in town. One offering a solid roadmap and army of loyal admirers.
Otherside fuels ApeCoin demand
After what can only be described as a bearish scenario this last week, ApeCoin has shown resolve to keep increasing by more than 40%, while the price of BTC and ETH decreased by 5.9% and 6.9% respectively. One major driver of demand for APE right now is the imminent release of the Otherside metaverse.
On March 19, Yuga Labs, the team behind Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), released a teaser for the upcoming metaverse project, Otherside. Since then, fans have been in eager anticipation of Otherside’s reveal. Last week, gossip circulated on Twitter that those blue-chip NFT collections which made an appearance in the teaser would be auto-whitelisted for the Otherside land drop. Others claimed that they got insider news that the land price would start from 600 ApeCoin.
On April 27, the fog surrounding the highly-anticipated metaverse project lifted, and the Otherside team announced on its Twitter that the NFT mint will start on April 30. The real driver of ApeCoin here is the fact that ApeCoin will be the currency of choice needed to purchase anything in Otherside.
About Otherside NFT land sales
Yuga Labs decided to launch the minting of Otherside NFT land in a Dutch auction-style, with bidding only accepted in ApeCoin. A move that is likely to cause a dip in the token’s price as the Yuga Labs team explained that the APE token collected from the auctions will be locked up for one year. It added that no further voting will be organized in the ApeCoin DAO either.
The team specifically mentions that the mint will be done in ApeCoin while the gas fees will be paid in the ETH. It was also mentioned that the starting price for the auction will be revealed later this week. According to the announcement, BAYC and MAYC holders will be able to claim the NFT for 21 days just after the auction.
Whales dive in
The news of the launch of the metaverse has piqued the interest of whales in the ApeCoin and Yuga Labs ecosystem. Just a few weeks after launching ApeCoin as the native token for Yuga’s projects, the token has become the eighth most-purchased asset according to data by Whalestats. Interestingly SAND and MANA, which have taken considerable price hits since the highs of November 2021 pip APE, SAND by a considerable amount. Additionally, in the last 24 hours, APE has become the most traded token amongst the top 1,000 Ethereum whale wallets.
Also due to the news, data from DappRadar shows that BAYC NFTs have been selling like hotcakes with the collection’s floor price jumping to around $440,000 at writing amid a surge of NFT purchases. Additionally, other projects by Yuga Labs include Mutant Apes and the Kennel Club which have also seen a spike in trading volume.
APE token outlook
ApeCoin has increased in value by over 1,700% since its launch in March 2022. It is amongst the top 10 most traded cryptocurrencies in the last 7 days and also in the last 24 hours as investors race to purchase APE to purchase digital lands to be released. Importantly, more than 54,000 wallets now hold ApeCoin.
Despite an exploit that targeted the BAYC Instagram account on Monday this week, resulting in losses of around $13.7 million the token is still one of the top performers. An unofficial mint link was sent out by the Instagram account to followers, with the wallets of those who clicked the link being compromised.
The above does not constitute investment advice. The information given here is purely for informational purposes only. Please exercise due diligence and do your research. The writer holds positions in various cryptocurrencies, including BTC, ETH, and RADAR.
